Icemaker apparatus

ABSTRACT

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING A SUPPLY OF ICE CUBES THAT COMPRISES AN AUTOMATIC ICE CUBE FORMER, CONTROL MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATION OF THE ICE CUBE FORMER, AN ICE CUBE DIRECTING MEANS EMBODIED IN AN INCLINED PLATE LOCATED ADJACENT A WALL OF THE APPARATUS AND SLOPED AWAY FROM THIS WALL OVER WHICH THE ICE CUBES PASS TO DIRECT THE CUBES AWAY FROM THE WALL AND INTO A STORAGE SPACE WITH THE DIRECTING MEANS HAVING A LOWER END PORTION LOCATED AT A HEIGHT CORRESPONDING TO A DESIRED MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF THE SUPPLY OF ICE CUBES, YIELDABLE MEANS INCLUDING SPRING MEANS MOUNTING THE DIRECTING MEANS FOR YIELDING DEFLECTION BY THE ICE CUBES, PASSING THEREOVER AND MEANS SUCH AS AN ELECTRIC SWITCH IN THE ELECTRIC CIRCUIT TO THE ICE CUBE FORMER OPERATED BY DEFLECTION OF THE YIELDING MEANS FOR ACTIVATING THE CONTROL MEANS AND THEREBY TERMINATING OPERATION OF THE ICE CUBE FORMER SO THAT AN ACCUMULATION OF ICE CUBES IN THE STORAGE SPACE TO THE DESIRED MAXIMUM HEIGHT COVERS THIS LOWER END OF THE DIRECTING MEANS AND THEREBY RETAINS THE DIRECTING MEANS IN ITS LOWERED DEFLECTED POSITION TO TERMINATE OPERATION OF THE ICE   CUBE FORMER SO LONG AS THE ACCUMULATION OF ICE CUBES IS SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN THE DEFLECTED POSITION. IN ONE EMBODIMENT THE LOWER END OF THE DIRECTING MEANS HAS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL WATER FLOW TROUGH TO COLLECT WATER FROM THE ICE CUBES AND DIRECT IT TO ONE SIDE OF THE STORAGE SPACE.

L. W. OHLSSON ETAL oct. 19, -1971 ICEMAKER APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed DSQ. 5. 1969 m03 WH. 0./ R Mw l g/f4 mul 5/ cg/M ATTORNEYS United States Patent' O 3,613,389 ICEMAKER APPARATUS Leonard W. Ohlsson, St. Paul, and Robert H. Sitko, Stillwater, Minn., assignors to Whirlpool Corporation Filed Dec. 5, 1969, Ser. No. 882,631

Int. Cl. F25c 1/00 U.S. Cl. 62-137 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for producing a supply of ice cubes that comprises an automatic ice cube former, control means for controlling the operation of the ice cube former, an ice cube directing means embodied in an inclined plate located adjacent a wall of the apparatus and sloped away from this wall over which the ice cubes pass to direct the cubes away fromA the wall and into a storage space with the directing means having a lower end portion located at a height corresponding to a desired maximum height of the supply of ice cubes, yieldable means including spring means mounting the directing means for yielding deection by the ice cubes passing thereover and means such as an electric switch in the electric circuit to the ice cube former operated by deflection of the yielding means for activating the control means and thereby terminating operation of the ice cube former so that an accumulation of ice cubes in the storage space to the desired maximum height covers this lower end of the directing means and thereby retains the directing means in its lowered deflected position to terminate operation of the ice cube former so long as the accumulation of ice cubes is suicient to maintain the deflected position. In one ernbodiment the lower end of the directing means has associated therewith a generally horizontal water ow trough to collect water from the ice cubes and direct it to one side of the storage space.

One of the features of this invention is to provide an automatically controlled ice body or ice cube maker in which the manufactured ice cubes flow over a substantially imperforate deectable baille slide member having a lower end positioned at a height corresponding to the desired maximum height of accumulated ice cubes in which the deflection of the directing means terminates operation of the ice cube former with the result that when the accumulation has been sufiicient to cover or weigh down the lower end of the directing means the operation of the ice cube former is stopped until enough ice cubes have been removed to permit yieldable means to return the directing means to its undeflected position.

iAnother feature of the invention is to provide an automatic ice body or ice cube former having a directing means for directing the ice cubes away from a side wall with this directing means including a transverse lower end trough for collecting water from the cubes and conveying it to one side of the storage space.

`Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of an ice forming apparatus in which the invention is applicable.

FIG. 2.' is a fragmentary side view partially in eleva* tion and partially in section of the ice forming apparatus of FIG. l embodying the invention.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to a portion of FIG. 2 and lillustrating the positions of certain parts of the appa- FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of FIG. 2.

ICE

lFlG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view partially in section of a portion of the apparatus of this invention. Automatic ice cube makers of the type illustrated herein are disclosed and claimed in a prior Pat. 3,234,750 issued Feb. 15, 1966 anda copending application Ser. No.

f 862,713, liled Oct. 1, 1969, both assigned to the same assignee as the present application. v

As is disclosed in greater detail in the above prior patent and particularly in the copending application the ice body or ice cube'maker 10 is a well knowntype of commercial p ice maker including boundary walls 11 defining a space 12 with they lower portion 13.thereof adaptedfto receive and contain a supply 14 of ice cubes. These cubes are manufactured automatically by a plurality of vertically spaced units each supported by parallel frame members v 15 of which only two are shown in FIG. l. Each .of the plurality of vertically spaced ice formersI `16 comprises the usual evaporator plate (not shown) and an electrically heated wire grid 17 arranged to receive the ice slab and sever it by melting it into ice cubes which drop onto f an inclined guide 18 beneath each grid 17 except for the lowermost grid sol that the manufactured cubes are directed toward a side wall 19 of the boundary walls 11. The `melting .of the ice slab into ice cubes releases a cer.- tain amount of waterwhich ows under the influence of v gravity down guides 18 to the lower portion of the ice maker and produce ice cubes when the plunger 2.1 is

extended as in FIGS. 2 and 4 but which opens the switch when the plunger has been moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 3 to inactivate the ice former and stop the production of ice cubes.

Located adjacent the side wall 19 is an ice body directing means 22 in the form of an upwardly transversely concave stainless steel substantially imperforate slide or baffle having a raised upper end 213 mounted for arcuate movement about a horizontal axis 24 and a lower bottom end 25. As can be seen the directing means or slide 22 although located adjacent the one side wall 19 to receive cubes falling from the vertical series of inclined guides 18is sloped away from it to direct the ice cubes away from this wall and toward the center of the storage space portion 13. The upper peripheral edge portion of slide 22 is bent toward side wall 19 at 22a to make sure that falling ice cubes do not hang up on the upper edge of slide 22. Since the slide or baie 2-2 is substantially imperforate, the water from the hot wire cutting of the ice slab into ice cubes is received by the baffle 22 and diverted to its lower edge along with the ice cubes. y l

The lower end portion 25 of the slide 22 is located in a positioncorresponding to a desired maximum height of ice cubes in the supply'14 thereof as shown in FIG. 3 where the ice cubes have accumulated to this desired maximum. Connected -to the raised upper end portion 23 of the slide 22 is a yieldable means in the form of a spring 26 that urges the slide in a counterclockwise `direction as viewed in the drawings about its axis 24. Spring 26 as illustrated has one end attached to a generally vertical flange 27 at the upper edge of the slide 22 and the other end attached to the adjacent frame member 15. The combination of the axial mounting 24 of the upper end of slide 22 and the upwardly urging spring 26 retains the slide for yielding deflection by the weight of the ice cubes sliding thereover as is evident from FIGS. 2 and 3.

The apparatus also includes means here shown as a switch lever 28 comprising a formed metal strip member suitably attached to slide 22 operated by the yielding the deflection of the slide 22 for activating the control means switch 20 to terminate operation of the ice body former. Thus in the illustrated embodiment the downward deflection of the slide 22 by the accumulated ice bodies or ice cubes as shown in FIG. 3 moves the slide to the left thereby moving the plunger 21 to the left, both as illustrated, to open the switch 20 and terminate operation of the ice cube former. With this construction an accumulation of ice cubes in the storage space 13 to the desired maximum height corresponding to the elevation of the lower end 25 of the slide 22 covers this lower end and weights it down, thereby retaining the slide in its lower deected position automatically to terminate operation of the ice cube former or maker. As ice cubes are removed from the supply 14 a condition will be reached where the cubes 29 weighing down the lower end of the slide 22 will be permitted to fall off and release the slide 22 so that it will be returned to its elevated position by the spring 26, thereby permitting the outwardly urged plunger 21 to move to the right as shown and close the switch 20.

In the preferred construction, as illustrated, the bottom end 25 of the slide 22 is formed as a trough 30 extending the full width of the slide 22, substantially from the front to the rear of the cabinet 10, and its purpose is to collect water from the ice and convey it by gravity flow to one side of the storage space 13, and thence to a drain line (not shown) communicating with the bottom of the storage space 13 so that the water is diverted away from the supply of ice cubes 14 to prevent the mass of ice cubes in supply 14 from freezing into an undesirable clump condition.

As is shown in the perspective view of FIG. the axis 24 of oscillation of the inclined slide 22 is dened by a pair of oppositely located mounting studs 31 one mounted in a wall 11 of the ice cube maker and the other mounted in the lower frame member 15.

Having described our invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is our intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specied, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the appended claims.

The embodiment of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed is defined as follows:

1. Apparatus for producing a supply of ice bodies, comprising: an automatic ice body former; means defining an ice body collecting space for receiving said bodies and including a boundary wall; control means for controlling operation of said ice body former; an ice body directing means located adjacent said wall and sloped away from it over which said bodies pass to direct said bodies away from said wall, said directing means defining means for positively directing ice bodies and water received thereon, and having a lower end portion located in a position corresponding to a desired maximum height of said supply; yieldable means mounting said directing means for yielding deflection by said ice bodies passing thereover; and means operated by said yielding deflection for activating said control means to terminate operation of said ice body former upon accumulation of ice bodies in said space to said desired maximum height thereby covering said lower end to retain said directing means in deflection position to terminate said operation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said ice body directing means comprises a baie member having a hinge mounting at an area spaced from said lower end portion.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said ice body directing means is bounded by a pair of substantially horizontal edges and is inclined downwardly from said hinge mounting which is located at one said edge to said lower end portion which is located at the opposite edge.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said lower end portion comprises means forming a generally horizontal water flow trough.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said control means comprises a normally closed electric switch having an operating member movable to open position on said deection of said ice body directing means.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means dening said space comprises an ice `body bin and said directing means extends substantially the full width of said bin.

7. Apparatus for producing a supply of ice bodies comprising: an automatic ice body former; means defining an ice body collecting space for receiving said bodies and including a boundary wall; control means for controlling operation of said ice body former; an ice body directing means located adjacent said wall and sloped away from it over which said bodies pass to direct said bodies away from said wall, said directing means defining means for positively directing ice bodies and water received thereon, and having a lower end portion located in a position corresponding to a desired maximum height of Said supply; yieldable means mounting said directing means for yielding deflection by said ice bodies passing thereover; and means operated by said yielding deflection for activating said control means to terminate operation of said ice body former upon accumulation of ice bodies in said space to said desired maximum height thereby covering said lower end to retain said directing means in deflected position to terminate said operation, said means dening said space comprising an ice body bin, said directing means extending substantially the full width of said bin and comprising a baffle member having a hinge mounting at an area spaced from said lower end portion, said ice body directing means being bounded by a pair of substantially horizontal edges and being inclined downwardly from said hinge mounting which is located at one said edge to said lower end portion which is located at the opposite edge.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said lower end portion comprises means forming a generally horizontal water flow trough.

9. Apparatus for producing a supply of ice bodies comprising: an automatic ice body former; means defining an ice body collecting space for receiving said bodies and including a boundary wall; control means for controlling operation of said ice body former; an ice body directing means located adjacent said wall and sloped away from it over which said bodies pass to direct said bodies away from said wall, said directing means having a lower end portion and dening means responsive to a preselected weight of ice bodies retained thereon to cause said control means to prevent operation of said ice body former; and means on said lower end portion comprising a transverse water conveying trough for directing water directed onto said directing means as an incident of forming of said ice bodies to one end of said directing means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said means dening said space comprises an ice body bin and said directing means extends substantially the full width of said bin.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,449,132 9/1948 Lucia 62--344 X 2,887,852 5/1959 Thomas 62-344 X 2,934,912 5/1960 Rodgers 62-137 3,021,686 2/1962 Alt 62-344 X 3,274,791 9/1966 Edmisten 62-344 X 3,430,452 3/1969 Dedricks et al. 62-137 X WlLLlAM F. ODEA, Primary Examiner P. D. FERGUSON, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 62--344 

